Reading games for kids

1. Letter Hunt

Whether you’re taking a stroll down to the local shops, or on a family road trip, letter hunts are a fun way to build your child’s reading and spelling skills. Ask your child to spell a word that they know, such as their first name, then try to find each letter of that word printed somewhere around you. Start by trying to find the first letter of the word on objects such as licence plates, road signs, billboards and posters. You can prompt your child with something like, “The first letter in your name is ‘S’, can you find a sign or poster with an ‘S’ on it”, and so on.

2. Re-enact stories

Children love dramatic play, and when your child acts out or retells the stories you’ve read together, they’re demonstrating and enhancing their comprehension skills – an essential part of learning to read. Ask your child to act out a story in the right order and take on different roles. This will help them gain an understanding of narrative structure, and consider how different characters have different personalities and motivations.

3. Matching rimes and onsets

A fun way to help your child learn crucial decoding skills is by playing with rimes and onsets. A rime refers to the string of letters that follow an onset, which is the first phonological unit of any word.You can play with rimes and onsets by cutting out pieces of cards and writing a phoneme on each one, for example, b c f p r s m and h. Write the letters at on a separate piece of paper. Ask your child to look at the rime at and decide if they have a phoneme that would correctly complete the word (e.g. b + at = bat).

4. Easter Hunts

The classic Easter hunt is a fantastic opportunity to practise reading and comprehension skills. Hide your Easter eggs around the house or in the garden. If it’s not Easter, you can use different items like your child’s favourite treat, books, or toys. Write some fun clues on a piece of paper, for example, “I’m bound to get wet in the place I’m hiding” (shower, sink, near the hose), “You might find me admiring my reflection” (by the mirror), or “Flowery and green is where I can be seen” (plants). Hand out your written clues to participants and let them have fun helping each other read and decipher each one.

5. Category games

You can play category games with your child after reading a book as a helpful way to recall new words and ideas, building their reading comprehension and vocabulary skills. If the book features animals, ask your child to name as many animals as they can think of, including any new ones they may have learned from the book. You can look at grouping
them in different ways, such as by where they live or their number of legs. If the book is about Egyptian history, ask them to list words under categories such as diet, buildings, rituals, or fashion.